Emmylea's husband, Marc, is a member of the Northern California-based Eldorado hotshot crew. The group of 20 was routed to Arizona to battle the wildfire, while they were on their way there they learned what had taken place.

"I got another text from him," Ellsworth said. "He said, 'I just want to let you know there was a turnover on the fire we're going to. I don't know the details.'"

Marc was safe, but Emmylea would soon learn that a woman with whom she attended Union Mine High School, was widowed by the tragedy.

Pregnant with her first child, the woman’s husband -- 26-year-old Sean Misner -- was among the firefighters killed.

Ellsworth reached out to her former classmate on Facebook.

"I told her that she and her soon-to-be baby boy would be in my prayers, as well," Ellsworth said. "She wrote me back. She said that her husband and the other men who died on Sunday are watching over my husband and his crew and all the other crews out there."

The Eldorado hotshots are typically gone for 14 to 21 days when they head out of town to fight a fire. There's no word yet on when they'll come home from their latest trip.